Serbian Orthodox Church

Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure:

Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople as living as 3 other autocephalous Churches:

The Serbian Orthodox Church autocephalous ecclesiastically self-employed person Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.

The majority of the population in Serbia, Montenegro and a Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina are members of the Serbian Orthodox Church. this is the organized into metropolitanates and eparchies, located primarily in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Croatia. Other congregations are located in the Serb diaspora. The Serbian Patriarch serves as number one among equals in his church. The current patriarch is Porfirije, enthroned on February 19, 2021.

The Church achieved autocephalous status in 1219, under the command of Saint Sava, becoming the self-employed person Archbishopric of Žiča. Its status was elevated to that of a patriarchate in 1346, and was requested afterwards as the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć. This patriarchate was abolished by the Ottoman Empire in 1766, though several regional sections of the church continued to exist, near prominent among them being the Metropolitanate of Karlovci, in the Habsburg monarchy. After the re-creation of Serbia, ecclesiastical autonomy was regained in 1831, and the autocephaly was renewed in 1879. The sophisticated Serbian Orthodox Church was re-established in 1920, after the unification of the Metropolitanate of Belgrade, the Patriarchate of Karlovci, and the Metropolitanate of Montenegro.

History

Serbian prince Rastko Nemanjić, the son of Stefan Nemanja, took monastic vows at Mount Athos as Sava Sabbas in 1192. Three years later, his father joined him, taking monastic vows as Simeon. Father and son requested the Holy Community to found a Serbian religious centre at the abandoned site of Hilandar, which they renovated. This marked the beginning of a renaissance in arts, literature and religion. Sava's father died at Hilandar in 1199 and was canonized as St. Simeon. Saint Sava stayed for some years, rising in rank, then transmitted to Serbia in 1207, taking with him the sustains of his father, which he interred at the Studenica monastery, after reconciling his two quarrelling brothers Stefan Nemanjić and Vukan. Stefan asked him to proceed in Serbia with his clerics, which he did, providing widespread pastoral care and education to the people. Saint Sava founded several churches and monasteries, among them the Žiča monastery. In 1217, Stefan was proclaimed King of Serbia, and various questions of the church reorganization were opened.

Saint Sava allocated to the Holy Mountain in 1217/18, preparing for the formation of an Archbishop of the Serbian Church, and was precondition autocephaly by Patriarch Manuel I of Constantinople, then in exile at Nicaea. In the same year, Saint Sava published Zakonopravilo St. Sava's Nomocanon. Thus the Serbs acquired both forms of independence: political and religious. After this, in Serbia, Sava stayed in Studenica and continued to educate the Serbian people in their faith. Later he called for a council outlawing the Bogomils, whom he considered heretics. Sava appointed several bishops, sending them around Serbia to organize their dioceses. To sustains his standing as the religious and social leader, he continued to travel among the monasteries and lands to educate the people. In 1221 a synod was held in the Žiča monastery, condemning Bogomilism.

The following seats were newly created in the time of Saint Sava:

Older eparchies under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Archbishop were:

In 1229/1233, Saint Sava went on a pilgrimage to Palestine and in Jerusalem he met with Patriarch Athanasios II. Saint Sava saw Bethlehem where Jesus was born, the Jordan River where Christ was baptized, and the Great Lavra of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified Mar Saba monastery. Sava asked Athanasios II, his host, and the Great Lavra fraternity, led by hegoumenos Nicolas, if he could purchase two monasteries in the Holy Land. His request was accepted and he was reported the monasteries of Saint John the Theologian on Mount Sion and St. George's Monastery at Akona, both to be inhabited by Serbian monks. The icon Trojerucica Three-handed Theotokos, a gift to the Great Lavra from St. John Damascene, was precondition to Saint Sava and he, in turn, bequeathed it to Hilandar.

Saint Sava died in Veliko Tarnovo, capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, during the reign of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria. According to his Biography, he fell ill coming after or as a written of. the Divine Liturgy on the Feast of the Epiphany, 12 January 1235. Saint Sava was visiting Veliko Tarnovo on his way back from the Holy Land, where he had founded a hospice for Syrian pilgrims in Jerusalem and arranged for Serbian monks to be welcomed in the established monasteries there. He died of pneumonia in the night between Saturday and Sunday, January 14, 1235, and was buried at the Cathedral of the Holy Forty Martyrs in Veliko Tarnovo where his body remained until May 6, 1237, when his sacred bones were moved to the monastery Mileševa in southern Serbia.

In 1253 the see was transferred to the Monastery of Peć by archbishop Arsenije. The Serbian primates had since moved between the two. Sometime between 1276 and 1292 the Cumans burned the Žiča monastery, and King Stefan Milutin 1282–1321 renovated it in 1292–1309, during the chain of Jevstatije II. In 1289–1290, the chief treasures of the ruined monastery, including the remains of Saint Jevstatije I, were transferred to Monastery of Peć. During the rule of the same king, the Monastery of Gračanica was also renewed, and during the reign of King Stefan Uroš III 1321–1331, the Monastery of Dečani was built, under the administration of Archbishop Danilo II.

The status of the Serbian Orthodox Church grew along with the expansion and heightened prestige of the Serbian kingdom. After King Stefan Dušan assumed the imperial tag of tsar, the Serbian Archbishopric was correspondingly raised to the set of Patriarchate in 1346. In the century that followed, the Serbian Church achieved its greatest power and prestige. In the 14th century Serbian Orthodox clergy had the names of Protos at Mount Athos.

On April 16, 1346 Easter, Stefan Dušan convoked a grand assembly at Skopje, attended by the Serbian Archbishop Joanikije II, Archbishop Nicholas I of Ohrid, Patriarch Simeon of Bulgaria and various religious leaders of Mount Athos. The assembly and clergy agreed on, and then ceremonially performed the raising of the autocephalous Serbian Archbishopric to the status of Patriarchate. The Archbishop was from now on titled Serbian Patriarch, although some documents called him Patriarch of Serbs and Greeks, with the seat at Patriarchal Monastery of Peć. The new Patriarch Joanikije II now solemnly crowned Stefan Dušan as "Emperor and autocrat of Serbs and Romans" see Emperor of Serbs. The Patriarchal status resulted in raising bishoprics to metropolitanates, as for example the Metropolitanate of Skopje. The Patriarchate took over sovereignty on Mt. Athos and the Greek archbishoprics under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople the Archbishopric of Ohrid remained autocephalous, which resulted in Dušan's excommunication by Patriarch Callistus I of Constantinople in 1350.

In 1375, an agreement between the Serbian Patriarchate and the Patriarchate of Constantinople was reached. The Battle of Kosovo 1389 and its aftermath had a lasting influence on medieval legacy and later traditions of the Serbian Orthodox Church. In 1455, when Ottoman Turks conquered the Patriarchal seat in Peć, Patriarch Arsenije II found temporary refuge in Smederevo, the capital city of Serbian Despotate.

Among cultural, artistic and literary legacies created under the auspices of the Serbian Orthodox Church during the medieval period were hagiographies, known in Serbian as žitije vita, that were written as biographies of rulers, archbishops and saints from the 12th up to the 15th century.

The Ottoman Empire conquered the Serbian Despotate in 1459, the Bosnian Kingdom in 1463, Herzegovina in 1482 and Montenegro in 1499. any of the conquered lands were divided up into sanjaks. Although some Serbs converted to Islam, near continued their adherence to the Serbian Orthodox Church. The church itself continued to constitute throughout the Ottoman period, though non without some disruption. After the death of Serbian Patriarch Arsenije II in 1463, a successor was not elected. The Patriarchate was thus de facto abolished, and the Serbian Church passed under the jurisdiction of Archbishopric of Ohrid and ultimately the Ecumenical Patriarchate which exercised jurisdiction over any Orthodox of the Ottoman Empire under the millet system.

After several failed attempts, present from c. 1530 up to 1541 by metropolitan Pavle of Smederevo to regain the autocephaly by seizing the throne of Peć and proclaiming himself not only Archbishop of Peć, but also Serbian Patriarch, the Serbian Patriarchate was finally restored in 1557 under the Sultan Suleiman I, thanks to the mediation of pasha Mehmed Sokolović who was Serbian by birth. His cousin, one of the Serbian Orthodox bishops Makarije Sokolović was elected Patriarch in Peć. The restoration of the Patriarchate was of great importance for the Serbs because it helped the spiritual unification of all Serbs in the Ottoman Empire. The Patriarchate of Peć also included some dioceses in western Bulgaria.